Anita Merrill has 48 years of professional experience, spending more than three decades as Chief Medical Technologist of the University of Georgia. Over the course of her career, she has established herself as an expert in chemistry and laboratory diagnostics. On a daily basis, she is responsible for serving as a technician for clinical pathology, chemistry, hematology, parasitology, endocrinology, urinalysis and cytology for veterinary patients.

Ms. Merrill stands out among her peers due to her strong upbringing. She completed an internship at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, where she met many influential mentors along the way. She takes it as a point of pride that she commits 100 percent of herself into everything that she undertakes. As such, Ms. Merrill considers her greatest career achievement to be her development of the veterinary clinical pathology department for the Tifton Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory, when she was hired in 1979. She had to start her work manually, beginning with hematology and urinalysis, before adding chemistry and several endocrinology programs.

Looking back, Ms. Merrill attributes her success to dedication and a strong work ethic. She became involved in her profession because she has always been interested in science. When a friend suggested that she go into the medical technology field, she knew that she had found her calling.

Ms. Merrill received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology from Barry University in 1966, and she became a registered medical technologist and an MTASCP within the following year. She is a member of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, the American Society for Clinical Pathology, and the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology. In honor of her achievements, she was presented with a Staff Appreciation Award in 2007, and an Outstanding Research Award from the Tifton Sigma Xi Club in 1997.

It takes someone with genuine dedication to ensuring patient health to take on the role of a health care professional. A lead technologist for Trinitas Regional Medical Center, Susan Lynn Mogus has an unwavering interest in the field, which has garnered her success over the past 27 years. In her current position, she uses her expertise in chemistry and hematology when working with physicians to diagnose what may be affecting a person’s health and, in response, monitors the patient’s treatment once a diagnosis is made. Her daily responsibilities include performing core laboratory duties, which encompass urinalysis and rapid testing for HIV, Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a type of bacterial infection that can be found in women who are pregnant, and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a major cause of respiratory illness in young children.

Trinitas Regional Medical Center is a Catholic community teaching hospital sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth that provides inpatient and outpatient medical services. Both Ms. Mogus and Trinitas “recognize and respect the dignity and value of life in every stage and condition.” She became a certified medical technologist through the American Society for Clinical Pathology, the world’s largest professional membership organization for pathologists and laboratory professionals, of which she is also a member. As a certified medical technologist, her main concern is patient health, something she caters to on a daily basis. She is constantly researching innovative ways to improve health care as a whole, something that became more prominent in 1984 when she earned a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from Slippery Rock University.

Throughout her nearly three decades spent in the health care field, Ms. Mogus has worked for seven different charities, expressing her good nature not only to her patients, but also to her community. She credits her success to this caring nature, her dedication, and her own life experiences. In the coming years, she hopes to continue to grow in the fields of health care and research.